Claire Newell (MEI Class of 1988) is working towards living her best possible life. Balancing her booming business and busy family life is the goal nowadays. In her early years, the only daughter in a family of five enjoyed a quiet upbringing on her family’s Abbotsford farm. The Scottish-born future TV personality’s father, now retired, was a general surgeon at Abbotsford’s MSA Hospital and her mother started a successful farming business.
As much as she enjoys travelling (“I’m a gypsy at heart”), she had no intention of making it her life’s work. Instead, Newell, an accomplished student, had long planned to become a lawyer. After graduating from MEI Schools in 1988 followed with a degree in English and Geography from UBC, she was all set to enter law school. However, a Christmas cruise in her last year of an Arts Degree led her to plot a different course. It was then, while sailing in the Caribbean that she met and befriended the founding family of a large travel business in the UK who piqued her interest in the industry.
Now, Claire is a travel expert, media personality, author, journalist and luggage designer. She is also the founder and president of Travel Best Bets, one of the largest travel agencies in Canada, with 3 locations and more in the works.
For the past 25 years she has appeared on Global BC (now 5 times a week) & on CKNW Radio (Now 4 times a week). She also appears nationally on Global TV’s ‘The Morning Show’. Claire has appeared multiple times on NBC’s Today Show, Fox & Friends, CNN, and other national programs. She has written articles for Glamour, Woman’s World, Canadian Living, Today’s Parent, Readers Digest and various other publications, as well as authoring her own best-selling book, Travel Best Bets -An Insider’s Guide to Taking Your Best Trips, Ever.
Claire was a co-host on the television series Operation: Vacation (30 episodes) which aired in the US & Canada. She has been a media spokesperson for many companies including Disney, Hilton Hotels Worldwide, Bridgestone Tires, CHASE Sapphire Preferred Card and TD Bank. She has been featured in ads and promotions for Visit Las Vegas, Vancouver International Airport, Hong Kong Tourism, BC Ferries, Canadian Tourism College, the Canadian Tourism Commission and Sylvan Learning.
Having visited over 67 countries, with many more on her bucket list, Claire provides her audience with the tips and deals to make their travels happen too!
Submitted by Hayley Moral, Marketing Manager at Travel Best Bets
